But what is the typical rate of disagreement between two of
the manuscripts that display the text that Burgon preferred – the “traditional text,” or as
it is better-known today, the Byzantine Text?
Let’s find out, or at least get some idea, by selecting a passage from
the Gospels, and discovering how many times B and À disagree in that passage
– and then select two Byzantine manuscripts and discover how many times they
disagree in the same passage. The two
Byzantine manuscripts we shall examine are Codex Alexandrinus (from the 400s)
and minuscule
2474, the Elfleda Bond Gospels (from the 900s). The test-passage under consideration is
chapter 19 of the Gospel of Luke; we shall first consider verses 1-27, and then
verses 28-48. In both comparisons,
readings of the first hand shall be considered.
The
comparison between A and 2474 was done by comparing the transcript of A in
Swanson’s Horizontal Line text of Luke to the online page-views of 2474. The comparison between À and
B was done by comparing Swanson’s transcriptions. For both comparisons, I have overlooked
differences in word-contractions, and allowed most vowel-exchanges and minor
orthographic variants to pass unmentioned.
Luke 19:1-27: Comparison of Codex A and 2474
1 – 2474 has ο Ις
after δήρχετο (+3)
2 – 2474 has ουτος
instead of αυτος (+1, -1)
2 – 2474 has αυτος
instead of ουτος (+1, -1)
2 – 2474 does not have ην
before πλούσιος (-2)
3 – no differences
4 – 2474 reads εις το
after προσδραμων (+5)
4 – 2474 reads τον Ιν
where A reads αυτον (+5, -5)
4 = 2474 reads δι’
after οτι (+2)
5 – no differences
6 – no differences
7 – 2474 reads αυτον
after ιδόντες (+5)
7 – 2474 reads απαντες
instead of παντες (+1)
8 – 2474 reads ημιση
instead of ημισυ (+1, -1)
9 – 2474 does not have εν before σωτηρια (-2)
10 – no differences
11 – no differences
12 – no differences
13 – no differences
14 – no differences
15 – no differences
16 – no differences
17 – no differences
18 – no differences
19 – no differences
20 – 2474 reads μνας instead of μνα (+1)
21 – no differences
22 – 2474 does not read δε after λεγει (-2)
23 – 2474 reads εκομισάμην αν το εμον συν τόκω
instead of συν τόκω αν αυτο ανέπραξα
(+16, -14) [A remarkable agreement
between 2474 and Codex G
(011, from the 800s).]
24 – no differences
25 – no differences
26 – no differences
27 – no differences
Luke 19:1-27: Comparison of À
and B
1 – no differences
2 – À reads ην and
not αυτος before πλούσιος (+2, -5)
3 – no differences
4 – À reads του ιδειν
instead of ινα ιδη (+4, -3)
5 – À reads ὁ before Ις (+1)
6 – no differences
7 – [À transposes to ανδρι αμαρτωλω]
8 – À reads ὁ before Ζακχαιος (+1)
8 – À reads τοις before πτωχοις (+4)
9 – À reads ὁ before Ις (+1)
9 – À does not read εστιν (-5)
10 – À reads απο after το (+3)
11 – À reads αυτοις instead of αυτους (+1, -1)
11 – [À transposes after παραχρημα]
12 – no differences
13 – no differences
14 – no differences
15 – no differences
16 – À reads προσηργάσα instead of προσηργάσατο (-2)
17 – À reads ευ instead of ευγε (-2)
17 – [À transposes to δουλε αγαθέ]
18 – no differences
19 – no differences
20 – À reads τερος instead of ετερος (-1)
21 – no differences
22 – no differences
23 – À has an extra ουν (+3)
24 – À reads αρε instead of αρατε (-2)
25 – À reads Κε after αυτω (+2)
26 – À does not read υμιν (-4)
27 – À reads κατασφάξετε
instead of κατασφάξατε (+1, -1)
And now for
the totals: in Luke 19:1-27, 2474
disagrees with A 14 times, involving a total of 69 letters’ worth of
disagreement. (That variant in verse 23
was huge.) Meanwhile, À
disagrees with B 20 times (including three mere transpositions), involving 49
letters’ worth of disagreement.
We
should take into consideration that several centuries separate the production
of Codex Alexandrinus and 2474, while probably less than 50 years separate B
and À. We should also consider the possibility that
2474 is not quite a typical medieval manuscript.
Nevertheless, judging from this particular comparison, it looks like
Burgon’s criticism of B and À’s high level of disagreement is a criticism that can be
aimed at some pairs of Byzantine manuscripts as well.
The comparison continues with the rest of Luke 19 in Part 2.
3 comments:
Have you seen Gary Dykes' criticism of Swanson's accuracy in his volumes on the Gospels?
Yes. But I also have a lot of Willker's Errata-list.
Thanks for this James. You probably had to pick the two most diverse representatives of the Byzantine text to accomplish your goal of beating the Alexandrians at their own game. Comparing A to Pi would have told a different story. Granted, Bob Waltz separates the Alexandrian Gospels into two families, "a B family (P66, P75, B, L, probably the Sahidic Coptic) and an Aleph family (Aleph, Z, at least some of the semi-Alexandrian minuscules)," so we should expect the differences between Aleph and B to be greatest in that corpus. He shows a chart comparing T to B and p75 in Luke, revealing T to be B's closest Greek ally in that gospel (and, I believe significantly, it is a Sahidic diglot).
http://www.skypoint.com/members/waltzmn/ManuscriptsUncials.html#uT
On the subject, Alan Bunning fails to note that, like B, p75 omits Luke 23:17.
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